1. Field
The present embodiments relate to techniques for analyzing degradation in electrical connections. More specifically, the present embodiments relate to a method and system for detecting the onset of degradation in electrical connections through sequential analysis of time domain reflectometry reflection coefficients.
2. Related Art
Issues with the integrity of electrical connectors are a leading source of errors and failures in computer systems. Such integrity issues may also cause intermittent faults that result in costly No Trouble Found (NTF) events in the computer systems. To mitigate the impact of such errors, failures, and faults, time domain reflectometry (TDR) may be used to characterize the integrity of electrical conduction pathways, especially at high frequencies. Using TDR, integrity issues in a conductor may be detected by measuring the reflection coefficient of a rise time pulse transmitted along the conductor. The reflection coefficient may then be used to diagnose faults in the conductor.
Current applications of TDR are limited to diagnosing existing problems in electrical connectors. For example, TDR may be used in root-cause analysis of existing problems such as short or open circuits. Moreover, predictive approaches to analyzing conduction pathway degradation using TDR are currently unknown. As a result, conventional uses of TDR may preclude the detection of degradation in electrical connectors prior to the occurrence of faults in the electrical connectors caused by the degradation. The lack of early detection may further inhibit a thorough understanding of degradation modes in electrical connectors.
Hence, what is needed is a technique for analyzing and characterizing the degradation of electrical connectors without the limitations described above.